Equilibrium
by Zack Hiwatari-Chan
Summary: Light and Dark, There is a time when there is a balance, a Equilibrium. This is a collection of Semi-related one-shots about the good, the bad, and the in between moments of our favorite cast!
1. Cooking

It was that dreaded day of the week again. The day that struck fear into the hearts of one class in particular at Azumano High School, today was, Cooking Lessons. Normally this day would not be so terrifying. But this class had something other classes didn't. This class had Risa Harada. Risa was, to put it lightly, a _very_ bad cook. There had been talk of petitioning for her to be banned from the class at one point. But that hadn't gone very far before it was shot down.

Today the teacher was putting the class into groups, their assignment was to decide what to make between them. And try not to burn down the class room in the process. It was the last day before the first long break of the school year, and not even the teacher was in the mood for something that required much work. Most of the groups were fine, friends with friends, people who could work together easily. But the last group was different, not that the teacher would know just how bad an idea it was to put them together. How could he? From his point of view they were all friends, and by that logic they would work well together.

This last group happened to be, Satoshi Hiwatari, Risa Harada, Riku Harada, and Daisuke Niwa. Daisuke and Satoshi were thought to be friends by the teachers, for the sole purpose that Satoshi spoke to Daisuke more than anyone else in their class. Riku Harada was Daisuke's girlfriend and Risa's sister. It only made sense that they could work together. They were an odd group with varying levels of skill in this particular class. Daisuke was one of the better students in the class, but Riku was far more skilled then him. Satoshi was mediocre at best. He never put enough effort into this class to be one of the best. Risa, Risa was hopeless, it was said that once she burned something, _before she had turned on the stove_. Of course, both Daisuke and Satoshi had been absent that day, and Riku was unwilling to confirm or dis-confirm the rumor.

It had been a good idea, really it had. They managed to make awkward small talk and eventually decided to make a cake. Of course, none of them could have foreseen just how much would go wrong. It all started when Daisuke tripped and knocked Riku into Risa who almost dropped the bowl she had been mixing eggs in. But she didn't notice one of the left over eggs fall into the mixture when she wasn't paying attention. From there everything went wrong, from the electronic mixer going haywire and covering Risa in batter, to Daisuke accidentally coating Satoshi in Flour, to Riku being so distracted by the chaos that she didn't notice she was using salt instead of sugar, to Satoshi being distracted by Risa and setting the oven too high. The end result was a mild fire and a completely ruined cake.

But hey, at least they had fun! Even if the teacher had sworn that he would never have the four of them work together again.

**Note!**  
><strong>And that kicks off my very first collection of stories! I figured, since a lot of other people do these. I might as well try it! <strong>

**This story will be updated frequently or infrequently depending on what I actually get written and when XD**

**Drop me a review if you liked this chapter kay?**


	2. Saturday

Satoshi wasn't sure how he had gotten roped into this. Though he supposed it had all started on Thursday as he was leaving school. Risa Harada had caught up with him and despite his best efforts to avoid conversation she managed to corner him at a stop light. How she knew that he walked home every Thursday was still a mystery to him. He remembered exactly how it had happened, even if he didn't understand it quite yet.

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><p>He had been waiting for the light to turn green, preferably before Risa caught up with him. He had a feeling he knew what she wanted. "Hiwatari-San!" Satoshi turned around to see Risa running up to the curb with her typical happy grin. As she ran her long hair flew out behind her, giving off the impression that she was flying down the street.<p>

"Harada-San." Satoshi greeted with his usual calmness. They made eye contact and his heart seemed to miss a beat for some reason. Of course, that reason would be that Risa's Hazel eyes, one of her best features, seemed even more striking than usual up close. He averted his eyes as quickly as he could without seeming rude. He quickly tried to forget his previous thought. Thinking like that would only awaken Krad. Satoshi was in no mood to fight for control of his body today. "Was there something you wanted?" He wanted to get this conversation over with as quickly as possible. The faster he was out of her company the better; after all it was not a good thing for him to be in the presence of a pretty girl for long. Satoshi mentally winced, if Krad had heard him think that. He would never have lived it down.

Risa nodded. "I was wondering if you had any plans for this Saturday. I know this is sudden, but I was hoping that we could do something?" She asked. She clasped her hands and looked at him hopefully. It was obvious to him that she had been working up the courage to ask him for a while.

Satoshi knew what he had to say. He had to turn her down and make up some reason she couldn't go, say he had other plans when he really didn't. He wanted to tell her the truth, he really did. That was probably the worst part of the current situation. He might have liked Risa, if he was allowed to 'like' girls. Feelings like that would only cause him misery in the future. But instead of telling her he had to do paperwork or something. He found himself smiling. "Actually Harada-san, I don't have any plans for this Saturday." _Why_ did he say that? Satoshi was putting both of them in danger by agreeing to go on what was surely a date! "Did you have something in mind for us to do?" Apparently his mouth wasn't on the same page as his mind.

Risa was in shock for a moment. Clearly it had not escaped her notice that he never accepted invitations to social events of any kind. As far as the student body was concerned, he was too busy for that. But the shock only lasted for a moment. She grinned excitedly. "Really?" She couldn't believe he said yes! Risa then went on to suggest some places where they could go. Satoshi agreed to one and that was that.

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><p>Satoshi shook his head and pulled himself from the memory. He knew he should have canceled on Friday when he had the opportunity. But, things had just kept coming up. Canceling last minute was not an option so he found himself on his way to the park to meet Risa. He had been given many opportunities to cancel. Yet he didn't. He knew he would regret it later. But Satoshi found that he didn't care. He much preferred going out with Risa to staying home along with only Krad to talk to.<p>

**Note!**

**And the next chapter is done. I'm not happy with it, but I guess it will have to do. :/ This is my first shot at anything Romance-like. So be kind in your reviews okay?**


	3. Lock In Pt1

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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><p>Daisuke sighed. He just knew this was a bad idea. But once his mom had heard about the annual lock in, she had insisted he take part. Every year their school had an event where they locked students in the building for the weekend, they were supposed to stay up the entire time and finish their final projects for this various classes. Of course, Daisuke hadn't wanted to participate. Since that would mean he couldn't work that weekend if a magical artifact activated or something. But there was just no arguing with Emiko Niwa once she got an idea in her head.<p>

Many other students were present at the Lock in as well. Saehara, Riku-san, and Harada-san were a few that he had known would be there. But Hiwatari-kun's presence had been a complete surprise to him. Apparently Hiwatari-kun had taken the weekend off from his other activities to complete the experiment he was doing for his final project in science. Though Daisuke was sure that Hiwatari-kun had been partnered with Risa for that project, it seemed like Hiwatari-kun was going all the work. Riku-san was there to complete her final protect in History, with the aid of the school's library. Harada-san hadn't even started on her final project in cooking. Daisuke himself had yet to find inspiration for his final project in art class. Unfortunately, he had a feeling that Saehara was only there to try and gain blackmail on the students who were there to actually work.

The doors would be locked in a couple hours and they would have full run of the school for two days. For some reason Daisuke didn't think that this would end well at all. Either way, he was stuck here thanks to his mom, so he headed to the art room to try and get started on his project.

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><p>Riku found Daisuke an hour later pacing the art room with a frown on his face. "Niwa-kun, what's wrong?" Was he really having that much trouble with his project? Usually Daisuke was so creative. Maybe he had finally run out of ideas. This was really going to upset their art teacher, who had been looking forward to Daisuke's project. It didn't seem like Daisuke had heard her. She moved to one of the desks and dropped her large pile of books and papers on it with a small bang.<p>

Daisuke jumped having been startled. He blinked at Riku. "Riku-san, when did you get here?" He hadn't even heard her come in. He was too distracted by a conversation with Dark on what he should do for a final project. He really should pay more attention. This wasn't the first time someone had snuck up on him while he was distracted by something else.

Riku shook her head. "I've been here for a few minutes Niwa-kun." She said laying out her papers on the desk and picking up a book. "The Library was getting too loud. So I thought I would come down here and work." It was much quieter in the art room since it was just Daisuke. The library had been invaded by some of the louder students looking for books. But this was also the perfect excuse to spend some time with her boyfriend, so she wasn't that annoyed. "Why were you pacing like that?" Riku figured that since Daisuke asked her a question, she might as well as him one in return.

Daisuke sweat dropped. "Well, I'm having some trouble thinking of a project. Every idea I get just doesn't seem to make it onto the canvas. . ." It was frustrating. He had ideas, but they weren't good enough for him to use. Daisuke had some very faint ideas currently in his head, but he couldn't seem to grasp them long enough to transfer them onto paper. And the few ideas he had started sketching out hadn't looked as good as they had in his head.

She giggled. "Niwa-kun, you're so weird sometimes. It's just an art project. It doesn't have to be perfect. Just draw or paint or sculpt something and have fun with it." That's what she had done, and her project had been completed in a few hours. But of course, Daisuke was more into the class then she was. Riku had to admit, that she hadn't exactly put a lot of effort into her sculpture. It somewhat resembled a cat, but Risa had told her it looked like an angry alligator.

"It's not that easy for me to do that Riku-san." Daisuke admitted. "I like to have an idea of what I'm going to do before I start it. And I want it to look good, because I really like art class." Plus, he knew that Dark would never let him live it down if he made something stupid. Of course, he couldn't tell Riku that, but it was one of the reasons that Daisuke wanted the project to be good.

She sighed. If this mean that much to Daisuke then she'd try to help him. She hummed in thought for a moment. "Maybe you should walk about for a bit? You might gain some inspiration from the other's projects. There are a lot of interesting ones going on around the school." She suggested. Riku was sure that pacing around the stuffy art room wasn't going to give him any sudden ideas. So it was probably best if he went out and maybe tried to talk to some people. Plus, Daisuke was probably just over thinking the project, he did that sometimes. Talking to someone might take his mind off it and help him get an idea.

"That's a great idea Riku-san!" He grinned. "I'll go do that, thanks a lot!" Daisuke headed for the door. He suddenly stopped and cocked his head to the side curiously as if someone was speaking to him. He then face-palmed and turned back to Riku. "Riku-san, would you like to come with me? I mean, if you're not too busy with your project." He added quickly.

Riku blinked, she hadn't expected him to invite her along. She smiled softly. "Of course Niwa-kun, I can work on my project later. Let's go see what everyone else is doing." She put her book down and left the room with Daisuke.

**Note!**

**And this is part one of a two or three part segment!**

**This lock in is going to be very fun to write out~ **

**If you readers find the time, tell me what you think!**


	4. Lock In Pt2

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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><p>Risa was very annoyed. She had been working in the cooking classroom on her project for an hour and a half now! Every time she started, she made some silly mistake and ended up having to start all over again. Who would have thought making brownies from scratch was so difficult? She glanced back at the large pile dishes in the sink and sighed. She should probably get started on those. Or they would just keep piling up. Completely ignoring the fact that the rest of the classroom had more food covering its walls and floor then the dishes Risa headed over to the sink and ran the hot water. "This at least, I know I can do without messing up." She smiled to herself.<p>

As soon as she had entered the classroom everyone who was in there had moved to a different classroom, which was probably for the best considering her track record with cooking. Unfortunately for her, she ended up using a bottle of dish soap that someone had tampered with. When she turned it over to add the right amount for the load of dishes she was doing, the cap fell off and the entire bottle was emptied! She groaned and walked to the other side of the kitchen area to throw away the now empty bottle. "I should have expected that." She shook her head; it was so typical of some joker to loosen the cap just so that would happen to the next person to use the bottle.

She turned back to her work station and simply stared. She had made another mistake; she had forgotten to turn the water off before she had thrown away the bottle! The sink was overflowing with a pile of bubbles that was quickly becoming taller than her. Risa gasped and ran over to the sink, but found that she couldn't find the faucet under the growing mountain of bubbles. Said bubbles were starting to spill out onto the floor. She scowled and swiped away the top layer of bubbles, only to find that she _still_ couldn't see the faucet! "Harada-san, what are you doing?"

Risa spun around to see Satoshi walking over to her station. He was raising an eyebrow at the chaos around her work station. "Hiwatari-san, it was an accident!" She said quickly. This was so embarrassing! "The bottle, someone loosened the cap, and I forgot to turn the water off." She blushed and turned around quickly. "Was there something you wanted?" She asked swiping away another layer of bubbles. This time she was able to see the faucet.

Satoshi side stepped the small pile of bubbles that Risa had unknowingly flicked in his direction as she shut off the sink. Unfortunately, he slipped in a small puddle of soapy water and to his surprise, he lost his balance. Normally he would have fallen down, but Satoshi was _clearly_ not normal. He caught himself on one of the counters before he could hit the ground. He got back to his feet and quickly regained his calm composure. "Yes actually, I was wondering if I could have your help on our Science project. I have the materials to set it up already. But some help would be appreciated in gathering a second test subject." He said as he observed the mess Risa had made. "But if you are too busy with your current project. . ." He could just come back later. Satoshi looked up and blinked in surprise. He _really_ didn't want to know how she had managed to get chocolate on the _ceiling_.

Risa stopped for a moment. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I forgot all about it." She admitted. She was way too concerned with her project in cooking class to really care about science. Then she got an idea, in her opinion, it was win-win for both of them. "Hiwatari-san, why don't you help me with my project? That way I can get it done faster, and then we can work on our science experiment!" She beamed at her own genius. This was surely a perfect idea!

Satoshi evaluated the suggestion briefly before nodding. "Alright, that sounds like a good idea. You were making brownies I assume?" He walked forward to take a look at the cook book that was propped open on the countertop. He moved out of the way just in time to avoid getting hit by the falling chocolate that had previously been stuck to the ceiling.

Somehow, things went much more smoothly with Satoshi helping. At least they did until Risa tripped and fell into Satoshi, knocking them both down and spilling brownie batter over both of them. And of course, Saehara happened to walk in exactly at that moment and snap a picture. Risa growled, got to her feet and grabbed the nearest thing. The nearest thing just so happened to be a frying pan. And run after the laughing wannabe reporter, who had fled from the room as soon as he took the picture.

"Really Harada-san, as grateful as I am that we now have a second subject for our project did you really have to hit him quiet so hard?" Satoshi asked observing the unconscious Saehara. "It was only a picture." Risa had run after their classmate and hit him over the head with the frying pan. Apparently the hit had been powerful enough to knock him out. The Doors had been locked quite some time ago; it was now around nine at night. "He should be waking up soon." Satoshi said standing up and walking over to place Saehara's camera in a small plastic box with two buttons on it, one was green and the other was red. Next to the box was a small cage holding a white mouse, inside the cage was a similar looking plastic box with identical buttons.

Risa shrugged. "He shouldn't have taken the picture in the first place." She was sure that it was Saehara's own fault that he had been knocked out by her hitting him over the head with a large metal frying pan. She only hoped that he didn't have a concussion. That would cause some problems.


End file.
